Effect of intermediate principal stress on strength of soft rock under complex stress states

A series of numerical simulations of conventional and true triaxial tests for soft rock materials using the three-dimensional finite difference code FLAC3D were presented. A hexahedral element and a strain hardening/softening constitutive model based on the unified strength theory(UST) were used to simulate both the consolidated-undrained(CU) triaxial and the consolidated-drained(CD) true triaxial tests. Based on the results of the true triaxial tests simulation, the effect of the intermediate principal stress on the strength of soft rock was investigated. Finally, an example of an axial compression test for a hard rock pillar with a soft rock interlayer was analyzed using the two-dimensional finite difference code FLAC. The CD true triaxial test simulations for diatomaceous soft rock suggest the peak and residual strengths increase by 30% when the effect of the intermediate principal stress is taken into account. The axial compression for a rock pillar indicated the peak and residual strengths increase six-fold when the soft rock interlayer approached the vertical and the effect of the intermediate principal stress is taken into account.

A generalized nonlinear three-dimensional failure criterion based on fracture mechanics

Based on fracture mechanics theory and wing crack model,a three-dimensional strength criterion for hard rock was developed in detail in this paper.Although the basic expression is derived from initiation and propagation of a single crack,it can be extended to microcrack cluster so as to reflect the macroscopic failure characteristic.Besides,it can be derived as HoekeBrown criterion when the intermediate principal stress σ_(2) is equal to the minimum principal stress σ_(3)(Zuo et al.,2015).In addition,the opening direction of the microcrack cluster decreases with the increase of the intermediate principal stress coefficient,which could be described by an empirical function and verified by 10 kinds of hard rocks.Rock strength is influenced by the coupled effect of stress level and the opening direction of the microcrack clusters related to the stress level.As the effects of these two factors on the strength are opposite,the intermediate principal stress effect is induced.

Unified elastoplastic finite difference and its application

Two elastoplastic constitutive models based on the unified strength the- ory （UST） are established and implemented in an explicit finite difference code, fast Lagrangian analysis of continua （FLAC/FLAC3D）, which includes an associated/non- associated flow rule, strain-hardening/softening, and solutions of singularities. Those two constitutive models are appropriate for metallic and strength-different （SD） materials, respectively. Two verification examples are used to compare the computation results and test data using the two-dimensional finite difference code FLAC and the finite element code ANSYS, and the two constitutive models proposed in this paper are verified. Two application examples, the large deformation of a prismatic bar and the strain-softening be- havior of soft rock under a complex stress state, are analyzed using the three-dimensional code FLAC3D. The two new elastoplastic constitutive models proposed in this paper can be used in bearing capacity evaluation or stability analysis of structures built of metallic or SD materials. The effect of the intermediate principal stress on metallic or SD mate- rial structures under complex stress states, including large deformation, three-dimensional and non-association problems, can be analyzed easily using the two constitutive models proposed in this paper.

Human Capital Expansion and Global Value Chain Upgrading:Firm-level Evidence from China

Firms actively participate in the production of the global value chain(GVC),which is an important driving force for economic development.Using a difference-in-difference method,our research shows that industries that are relatively more human-capital intensive experienced a larger GVC position upgrading after 2003 than they had in prior years.Second,mechanism analysis shows that human capital expansion increases firms’GVC position not only through an imported intermediate input effect but also through an innovation effect.Third,this study shows that increases in the college-educated labor force have a heterogeneous effect on a firm's GVC position across firms’various characteristics.Human capital expansion has the largest positive effect on state-owned firms relative to foreign and domestic private firms.Human capital expansion has also significantly improved the GVC position of firms located in China's eastern and central regions.The findings of this study indicate that it helps upgrading the GVC position of Chinese firms.